Monday 9 October 2006 20.10 EDT
First published on Monday 9 October 2006 20.10 EDT

Paul Wellens led a St Helens clean sweep of last night's Super League awards in Manchester when he was named the Man of Steel - but Hull, who will face Saints in their first grand final at Old Trafford on Saturday, were snubbed.

That will have come as no surprise to their coach Peter Sharp, who did not even make the three-man shortlist for the coach-of-the-year award - which went to Saints' Daniel Anderson, ahead of Salford's Karl Harrison and Brian Noble for his work at opposite ends of the table with Bradford and Wigan - despite his role in the transformation of Hull's form since John Kear was sacked in April.

"All season we have flown under the radar, both as a team and as individuals," Sharp said before the awards were announced. "Our players don't get the profile the Saints players do and, as a team, we have gone a little unnoticed considering we finished second."

Wellens was also voted the player of the year by his fellow professionals, and the 21-year-old prop James Graham was named the young player of the year ahead of his Saints team-mate James Roby and the Wigan full-back Chris Ashton. Danny Washbrook, another 21-year-old who came from nowhere to establish himself at loose-forward for Hull since Sharp's arrival, failed to make the shortlist.

The Man of Steel title, awarded to the player judged to have made the greatest impact on the Super League season, has now gone to St Helens in five seasons out of seven, with Wellens following Jamie Lyon last year, Sean Long in 2000 and Paul Sculthorpe in 2001 and 2002. That may be slightly unbalanced considering they have reached only three grand finals in that period, but few will quibble with Wellens' selection. If anything, it is overdue recognition for the courage and consistency he has shown at full-back since 2000.

Both Sharp and Anderson yesterday maintained the prerequisite for all coaches in grand final week of revealing as little as possible about their plans, retreating behind the obligation to name their 20-man squads today. However, Anderson is expected to name the same 17 who beat Hull 12-8 in the qualifying semi-final at Knowsley Road two weeks ago, which will mean no place again for his unrelated namesake Vinnie, fuelling speculation that the New Zealander will join Warrington next year.

Sharp dismissed injury doubts surrounding Washbrook and the Horne brothers Richard and Graeme, who all seemed to be struggling at times in Hull's 19-12 win against Bradford in the final eliminator on Friday, saying in colourful Australian slang that Washbrook was "as fit as a Mallee bull".

Hull also confirmed yesterday that they had signed Willie Manu, the Tongan second-row who played for Castleford this season, while their city rivals Hull Kingston Rovers' recruitment following their promotion to the Super League is expected to start with Awen Guttenbeil, a veteran New Zealand forward whose move to Castleford collapsed when the Tigers were relegated. Toa Kohe-Love and Danny Lima emerged as other potential targets after Warrington announced that they would not be offered new contracts.

Hull KR are considering erecting a temporary stand to increase their ground capacity in time for their entry into the Super League in February. Despite recent ground improvements, Craven Park is currently restricted to a capacity of just more than 8,000, which is about 1,000 below the average attendance throughout Super League in 2006. Rovers' chief executive, Paul Lakin, has said the ground will not be big enough for several fixtures, especially the derby with Hull.